A campaign by western Canada racers and track promoters to build a paced oval facility in Alberta will be discussed during a 7:30 p.m. open meeting Friday at the Sheraton — formerly the Capri — Hotel.
The high-end stock car facility would replace the former Calgary Race City track.
Herm Hordal, the business development manager for Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in Saskatchewan who is developing a western Canadian tour, will head up the meeting and has invited Red Deer mayor Morris Flewwelling to attend, lending evidence to the belief that the proposed track could be located in Central Alberta.
“The meeting is targeting business people, but the more potential participants the better,” said long-time Red Deer racer Grant Brown.
“There has been talk of a track being built in our area. I know local drivers would love for it to be in our region.”
Calgary businessman Trevor Boys, a former Winston Cup — now Sprint Cup — racer who ran against the likes of Richard Petty and Bobby Allison, will attend the meeting.
Oval track racing features events ranging from the entry-level Bandolero class for children as young as six years of age to full-blown, super-late model high-end stock cars, which, according to Brown are “Canada’s fastest stock cars.”
“In this day and age it’s getting tougher to pull people in,” said Brown. “People look at NASCAR and think that’s the extent of the sport, but oval track racing can be a beginner and even a family activity.”
The possibility exists, Brown suggested, that any new track to be built in Central Alberta — or elsewhere in the province — would be sanctioned by NASCAR.